Park Police Might Stop Crowd Counts

Park Police Might Stop Crowd Counts

Article excerpt

Criticized for years and threatened now with a suit, the U.S.
Park Police are considering getting out of the crowd-counting
business.

Maj. Robert Hines of the Park Police made that suggestion
Thursday as a fresh challenge arrived: Boston University's Center
for Remote Sensing, using digital analysis of the park police
photos, estimated the crowd at Monday's Million Man March at
870,000, more than twice the 400,000 estimated by the park police.

The Park Police and its parent, the National Park Service, are
not required to count crowds, noted Hines. "Over the years, the
news media and others came to expect it. We are going to reconsider
whether we want to be in this business or not."

The Nation of Islam, whose leader, Louis Farrakhan, organized
the Million Man March, called the park police estimate a
racist-inspired undercount to dilute the event's success. Farrakhan
contends that the crowd lived up to the event's name.

Abdul Arif Muhammad, co-chairman of the Muslims' legal
committee, said a suit would be filed to force the park police to
produce evidence on which it based its count.

ABC News commissioned the recount by Boston University's Center
and broadcast the result on "Good Morning America. …